A bit harsh. If he was being offered double his salary (or more) who can begrudge him moving on? The way it was handled certainly leaves a lot to be desired, but I wonder whether this was COD or OUFC being disingenuous? It would be interesting to know at what point the two clubs agreed the basics of the deal. If COD had a fair idea that it was going to go through before the weekend then it's not surprising he didn't want to risk injury playing for us in Solihull or Spain really...

Of course he's doubled his salary and some. However, if he has real belief and ambition to play at the top level, amongst the mega bucks, I would guess his chances would've been increased by another development year in Lg1 at a progressive club / us. After all, Arsenal obviously believe that one of their hot prospects will gain from a year with us. Likewise, a lad on the verge of Man Utd's squad sees Appleton as a route back to where he wants to be. Lundstrum, the same. I'd imagine they each aspire to more than Bristol City as their next move.

It doesn't feel right. However, we've a few quid and hopefully he'll prove me wrong.

Was it Mark Ashton that did the Roofe deal and gave them a 40% sell on fee? If so, I hope we played him at his on game and got a good whack for CoD if he moves elsewhere. Like Eastleigh or somewhere. ;)

neilw wrote:Of course he's doubled his salary and some. However, if he has real belief and ambition to play at the top level, amongst the mega bucks, I would guess his chances would've been increased by another development year in Lg1 at a progressive club / us. After all, Arsenal obviously believe that one of their hot prospects will gain from a year with us. Likewise, a lad on the verge of Man Utd's squad sees Appleton as a route back to where he wants to be. Lundstrum, the same. I'd imagine they each aspire to more than Bristol City as their next move.

Crowley has 11 senior appearances under his belt. Rothwell has 7. And neither of them has scored a goal in professional football. Callum's development is a good stage further than both of them. And what makes you think Bristol City isn't a progressive club? Their stadium redevelopment is pretty impressive. In fact just owning their own ground makes them a more viable prospect for sustainable progress than Us, even before you consider that their capacity is more than double ours! Our business model relies precisely on selling assets like COD and Roofe when the price is right.

Also you seem very blasé about the prospect of more than doubling your salary in such a short-lived career...

neilw wrote:Of course he's doubled his salary and some. However, if he has real belief and ambition to play at the top level, amongst the mega bucks, I would guess his chances would've been increased by another development year in Lg1 at a progressive club / us. After all, Arsenal obviously believe that one of their hot prospects will gain from a year with us. Likewise, a lad on the verge of Man Utd's squad sees Appleton as a route back to where he wants to be. Lundstrum, the same. I'd imagine they each aspire to more than Bristol City as their next move.

Crowley has 11 senior appearances under his belt. Rothwell has 7. And neither of them has scored a goal in professional football. Callum's development is a good stage further than both of them. And what makes you think Bristol City isn't a progressive club? Their stadium redevelopment is pretty impressive. In fact just owning their own ground makes them a more viable prospect for sustainable progress than Us, even before you consider that their capacity is more than double ours! Our business model relies precisely on selling assets like COD and Roofe when the price is right.

Also you seem very blasé about the prospect of more than doubling your salary in such a short-lived career...

I'm with KY on this one.

I actually think Bristol City are a good club for him to go to. Their chairman (who also owns the Rugby Union club who have just got back in the Premiership) has stated that his aim is to get Bristol City into the Prem and he appears to be putting his money where is mouth is. O'Dowda has far more chance of game time there than he would had he signed for a current Prem club. We, rightly, slam young players when they make the move to Prem clubs and disappear into the reserves so 'praise' should be given when a young player makes a more positive move.

People are also mentioning loyalty but it works both ways. If O'Dowda stayed with us and suddenly became crap or injured then Appleton would have no problem letting him go. Just look at the Jake Wright situation (not that he was crap or injured but you get the point).

It is a short career and, unfortunately, it does become a bit of a money grab and I think I'd move to Bristol for double my salary! I expect O'Dowda has done way more than that.

Yes, I'm disappointed to see him go and, yes, I think it has been handled badly but this is the reality of how football works and we should not try to kid ourselves otherwise.

My point being, if money is his driver, there was every chance that he would have been able to negotiate a far bigger deal in January / end of next season, further proving himself at a higher level and internationally. I feel he's jumped too early, given his likely increasing value. I do recognise that he could get injured tomorrow, short career and all that.

I know I'm being a bit naïve, but surely a little more respect to the club that made you might have been in order. Unfortunately, our sentiment and romance isn't quite reflected in a sport full of mercenaries.

neilw wrote:My point being, if money is his driver, there was every chance that he would have been able to negotiate a far bigger deal in January / end of next season, further proving himself at a higher level and internationally. I feel he's jumped too early, given his likely increasing value. I do recognise that he could get injured tomorrow, short career and all that.

Not sure that's true. I think now is the perfect time for him to move (from his point of view) - Wembley goal, good season with ten goals from out wide and a promotion on his CV, full international debut, several clubs looking at him. Anything could happen in the next season to mean the opportunity to profit from all that could quickly pass.

Anyway, I'll watch his career with interest and wish him well - after all it's very much in our interest that he earns another big money transfer in the future!

Fair point KY. I guess the risk of staying outweighed the opportunity it offered. On balance, clinically, maybe he's done the right thing. However, who would want to leave their boyhood club in this manner. One would hope that playing football is more honorable than jumping to the next improved contract. Clearly, in many cases, that isn't quite so.

I am disappointed at his leaving, and I am frustrated about how things panned out over the last few days, but I certain not angry. Good luck to him.

And just as we seem to be developing a reputation as a club with whom promising young talent at Premiership clubs can be trusted for loans/development, so I would hope COD will help reignite our reputation as a club where youth players can come as young kids, be brought through the ranks, and go on to have professional careers.

We should have offered him an improved deal as soon as we were promoted. There was always a risk he would be tempted away.

Good luck to him - as Dr Bob says, having a reputation for bringing youth players through, giving them a proper chance so that they can leave and have a good career will make our academy more attractive to the best youth talent, and that will in time lead to more O'Dowdas in future. Let's play the long game...

I think it's also really important to acknowledge that selling players on for big money is absolutely essential if the club is to remain sustainable. The current board's financial model has been to spend big on training and development (and on wages, I suspect). Eales talks a good game about that, but his pockets aren't bottomless. Flogging Roofe and O'Dowda for more money than we've received for any player ever(?) will go a long way towards demonstrating that this can be made to work.

We had a good few years of Callum and some great memories. The manner of his departure was a bit shabby, but good luck to him. If we can use some of the cash to bring in adequate/better replacements and bank the rest, we can't have any cause for complaint.